My apologies, Simon didn't join the Cubs until the following year. I guess it was so Cub-like that my memory made it so.

* "Wisconsin's most famous sausage has decided to retire, but she'll always relish the memories," ESPN reported in 2004.

Mandy Block received attention after Simon hit her over the head with his bat as she passed by the visitors' dugout. Veronica Chandler, the hot dog who tripped over Block's fallen sausage, never ran again.

The whacking was broadcast worldwide, but Block brushed aside the controversy, accepting Simon's apology and declaring herself "just a sausage."

Simon was handcuffed by Milwaukee County sheriff's deputies after the game, taken to a police station and fined $432 for disorderly conduct. Major League Baseball suspended him for three days.

Simon sent Block an autographed bat and apologized several times. When he returned to Miller Park later in the season, as a Chicago Cub, he bought a section of fans Italian sausages.

The Curacao Tourism Board offered their own apology, an all expenses-paid trip for Block and Chandler. Simon is from the small Caribbean island.

Block also was recognized by the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council with a certificate of bravery.

"I'm proud of it," Block said. "I didn't even know there was a hot dog council."